ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juan Novo was born in Habana Cuba seven years before the communist Castro regime took totalitarian control of this burgeoning island paradise and turned it into an isolated, run down specter of her former glory. He came to the U.S.A. unaccompanied when he was nine years old through “Operation Pedro Pan,” a clandestine operation that succeeded in rescuing over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minor children from communist indoctrination and control by the communist Castro regime. The operation, which ended with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, was run and directed by Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh of the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Miami, Florida.
By the time he was nineteen, Juan had become a professional musician and was making a living as a percussionist playing music in the San Francisco area under contract to Warner Brothers Studios in a band called “Fat City.” In 1976, he graduated from Spokane Falls Community College with degrees in both music theory and musical instrument repair and restorations and has been active as a practicing professional technician in this field for the past 50 years.
Mr. Novo founded the Research and Development Committee for the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians (NAPBIRT) in 1983, and it was here where he was “bit” for the first time by the “investigative writing bug.” Juan ended up publishing a work entitled “The Grenadilla Story,” an in-depth investigative study of African Blackwood, an African hardwood that has been used to make woodwind musical instruments for over a century. The report revealed the precious wood was at the edge of extinction which led to successful replanting programs years later. Mr. Novo has written technical repair and restoration articles published in the Association’s trade journal, “TechniCom.” His work with musical instruments has been featured in several TV specials, and articles about him and his work have appeared in both foreign and domestic newspapers, magazines, and periodicals. Although Juan switched careers and entered the musical instrument repair field full time in 1976, he continued to play percussion as a hobby and has performed in concerts with Jazz legends such as the late Dizzy Gillespie and Ira Sullivan.
Since 1983, Mr. Novo has been making professional model Grenadilla wood mouthpieces for the metal concert flute which are played by both amateur and professional flutists worldwide. Between 1981 and 1984, Mr. Novo was awarded two U.S. patents on musical instrument designs. One of these, patent # 4,685,373, is for the transparent FANTASIA flute he invented in 1984: a professional grade transparent flute that is illuminated with colored lights during performance. The first such instrument, built in 1985, was commissioned by the late Julius Baker, principal flautist for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This instrument was later purchased by the late New York Latin-Jazz flutist Dave Valentin and is featured in one of his albums entitled, “Light Struck.” The FANTASIA flute made U.S. Patent history, for it was the first illuminated musical wind instrument to be awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent Office. As a result, a new division had to be created for it and it remains to this day the only such instrument in its class.
In the late 80s, Juan served for a time as editor of the “Sunshine Jazz Messenger,” the newsletter for Miami’s Sunshine Jazz Organization, and in 1990, his Grenadilla flute mouthpiece, played by Dave Valentin, was featured in the soundtrack of the film “Havana” starring Robert Redford. His books, “A Race Redeemed,” and “Who Do You Say I Am?” are Mr. Novo’s latest and most important investigative works. Juan is a practicing Catholic, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and an avid student of Catholic theology and philosophy. He now works part time for a company that is devoted to music education for children.
Danielle C. Mesa was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a devoted Catholic family. Her father is a deacon serving at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston. The desire of her heart is to use the gifts and talents she has received from God to give praise and glory to the Lord. Danielle’s aspiration is that her book will reveal the joy and hope children with special needs bring to their families and those around them. She holds a fine arts degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Post-Bachelor’s degree from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
